City Sponsors Mercury Thermometer Exchange Nov. 14

Communications Director

City Sponsors Mercury Thermometer Exchange Nov. 14

Posted: 11/05/2009

The City of Knoxville's Solid Waste Section is helping sponsor a used Mercury thermometer exchange for Knoxville and Knox County residents from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., Saturday, November 14, at the new Earth Fare store in BEARDEN - OR UNTIL THE SUPPLY OF REPLACEMENT THERMOMETERS IS EXHAUSTED.

The store is located at 140 N Forest Park Blvd. just off Kingston Pike. The exchange offers city and county residents an opportunity to replace used mercury thermometers with battery-operated digital thermometers, provided by the sponsoring organizations.

The digital thermometers will be available to the public at no cost, in exchange for used mercury thermometers. Residents may bring in as many used thermometers to exchange as they wish from family and neighbors while supplies last.

This has been a very successful event in the past and last year the supply of digital thermometers ran out before the scheduled end of the exchange.

In addition to the City of Knoxville's Solid Waste Office, part of the city's Public Service Department, other sponsors include: the Knox County Health Department; Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation; the Knox County Solid Waste Department and the UT Academy of Student Pharmacists.

Mercury thermometers are both an environmental and a health and safety problem. Broken thermometers are a potential source of injury from broken glass as well as a chemical hazard from mercury in the thermometer.

Please do not bring outdoor thermometers with red liquid. They do not contain mercury, which is silver-colored. Thermometers with red liquid, or colored alcohol, can be placed in the household trash.

For safety in transporting the thermometers please bring them in their storage cases. If those aren't available, or the thermometer is broken, the thermometers can be brought in a 12-ounce plastic empty water bottle with a screw-cap lid.

This exchange is limited to mercury thermometers from households.

Other types of mercury-containing waste such as old non-digital thermostats, barometers and manometers or other household devices containing mercury should be brought to the Knoxville Household Hazardous Waste Center, where it will be accepted for disposal during business hours.

The Household Hazardous Waste Center is free to residents of Knox County and City of Knoxville residents only and is located at 1033 Elm Street.

The thermometer exchange will be held at the same location as the city's Unwanted Medicines Collection event, at the new Earth Fare store in Bearden. The even is in conjunction with America Recycles Day in Knoxville. The Theme for this year's event is "Get a Crush on Recycling!"

Residents will be able to exchange their aluminum cans for THE CRUSHER, (an aluminum can crusher). On Saturday November 14th residents can bring their aluminum cans to Earth Fare from 10 AM to 2 PM. They will need to bring in 5 pounds or 150 aluminum cans and receive the Crusher from the Knoxville America Recycles Day Committee while supplies last.